Smart Metering for Utilities

The LoRaWAN® specification is a Low Power, Wide Area (LPWA) networking protocol designed to wirelessly connect battery operated ‘things’ to the internet in regional, national or global networks, and targets key IoT requirements such as bi-directional communication, end-to-end security, mobility and localization services.

LoRaWAN® network architecture is deployed in a star-of-stars topology in which gateways relay messages between end-devices and a central network server. The gateways are connected to the network server via standard IP connections and act as a transparent bridge, simply converting RF packets to IP packets and vice versa. The wireless communication takes advantage of the Long Range characteristics of the LoRaÒ physical layer, allowing a single-hop link between the end-device and one or many gateways. LoRa offers great coverage from a single gateway (<20km) which supports thousands of end devices, low costs for network deployment and long end device battery life.

Wireless M-Bus or Wireless Meter-Bus is the European standard (EN 13757-4) that specifies the communication between utility meters and data loggers, concentrators or gateways, allowing to get remote and wireless data readings on a regular basis. Until more advanced and effective ways were created this method became quite popular in Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and is widely used for electricity, gas, water, and heat meters.

We offer solutions, allowing to gather data from multiple Wireless M-Bus devices directly or integrating them into the growing LoRaWAN® network, saving on deployment costs and avoiding tiresome drive-by, walk-by scenarios. That allows utilities to have newest LoRa devices implemented where the replacement is already planned and have data from legacy ones in one system till their service time ends.

NB-IoT is a Narrow Band IoT technology specified in Release 13 of the 3GPP in June 2016. NB-IoT can coexist with GSM (global system for mobile communications) and LTE (long-term evolution) under licensed frequency bands (e.g., 700 MHz, 800 MHz, and 900 MHz). NB-IoT occupies a frequency band width of 200 KHz, which corresponds to one resource block in GSM and LTE transmission.

NB-IoT has the lowest range and coverage capabilities (i.e., range <10 km). It focuses primarily on the class of devices that are installed at places far from the typical reach of cellular networks (e.g., indoors, deep indoors). In addition, the deployment of NB-IoT is limited to LTE base stations. Thus, it is not suitable for rural or suburban regions that do not benefit from LTE coverage.

NB-IoT also offers the advantage of maximum payload length. It allows the transmission of data of up to 1600 bytes. NB-IoT is preferred for applications that require guaranteed quality of service, but this comes at the energy cost – the end-devices have lower lifetime as compared to Sigfox and LoRa.

Sigfox is an LPWAN network operator that offers an end-to-end IoT connectivity solution based on its patented technologies. Sigfox deploys its proprietary base stations equipped with cognitive software-defined radios and connect them to the back end servers using an IP-based network. The end devices connected to these base stations using binary phase-shift keying (BPSK) modulation in an ultra-narrow band (100 Hz) sub-GHZ ISM band carrier.

Sigfox uses unlicensed ISM bands. By employing the ultra-narrow band, Sigfox uses the frequency bandwidth efficiently and experiences very low noise levels, leading to very low power consumption, high receiver sensitivity, and low-cost antenna design at the expense of maximum throughput. Sigfox proposes the lowest payload length of 12 bytes, which limits its utilization on various IoT applications that need to send large data sizes.

Mainhive supports the devices and the data gathered through Sigfox network allowing to see them on the pair to the devices working on other networks.